One recent Sunday morning here at our little village church we had the pleasure of hearing Yal Ki share his testimony. He is not a man of many words. He is quiet and a bit serious on the surface. So it was a courageous thing for him to get up in front of everyone and share.
Yal Ki used to be a “drug body” as they say here. That is the PNG term for a drug addict and for Yal Ki it was marijuana. Marijuana is a plague here in the country and especially up in the Highlands where it grows, well, like a weed.
Yal Ki was a church kid but rebelled in his young manhood and like the Prodigal Son wasted many years living for pleasure. At one point he was caught trying to steal solar panels off the roof of a public school in another Province about an hour or so away.
Eventually he ended up back here living with his family but still smoking spak brus. Having never attended public school, he attended our Dom literacy classes and learned to read. That was a God thing as it turns out. He got a hold of one of our Ephesians lesson books which have translated Scripture in them and began to read for practice. We came across him one day sitting in his father’s hut reading the Word of God in Dom, haltingly but reading all the same.
Little by little Yal Ki came around to trusting the Lord. He started showing up at Sunday services and attending our Thursday night men’s Bible study. His testimony of God’s deliverance is nothing short of miraculous. Last Sunday he stood up and read from the Dom translation of Ephesians, declared his faith in Jesus Christ and gave thanks that he has been clean and sober for three years now. This, Friends, is the power of God’s translated Word. This is why we are still here after 29 years. Lord haste the day when the Dom New Testament is finally printed!
[singlepic id=72 w=320 h=240 float=]Yal Ki is a family man now. He and his young wife have a baby boy and live right next door to us. His wife, Kathy, is part of the team that is helping us check and recheck the Dom Scriptures for accuracy and clarity. She often shares in song at our Sunday services with another Christian lady. God is amazing to watch as He breaks through the darkness with His Word.